Page 35 of Cold-Blooded Creatures

“Please,” the woman whined. “I can’t hold off any longer.”

She knew what they were going to do to her for disobeying. And yet she did it anyway.

She was getting off on it.

“I think we need to shut her up,” the one with her hair in his hold said.

My throat dried out as the world shrunk down to the three of them.

12

ZION

“Good luck!” Ezra shouted as Kali dashed through the open door.

Oh, she was in so much trouble. So much exciting trouble.

Eli grimaced at Ezra. “Really?”

Ezra shrugged. “What? She needs it. It’s not like she’s going to escape. But if, with a little luck, she can manage to stress them out before they catch her, then the more, the better. It’s fun to watch.”

Sadira reached for the chocolate croissant Gedeon had loaded onto the plate for Kali, and he swatted her hand away. “There are plenty. Get your own.”

“Gods, fine. It’s not like these have her name on them.” Sadira rolled her eyes and snatched a croissant from the silver tray full of the golden baked goods covered in sugar powder.

Did we sometimes annoy Gedeon by acting childish just for the fun of it?

Yes. Yes, we did.

Dinners became boring fast with nothing new happening besides a new person joining us every few years. So with our toy, a delightful package named Kali, here, now? All bets were off. Or more like starting, depending on how you looked at it.

And she was already getting under Gedeon’s skin by going against all his commands, even the easiest of all—eating her dinner. It was going to be immensely entertaining to watch him try to tame her.

Maybe I should teach him how to relish and savor her insolence. So many creative punishments could await her for her audacity.

Which led me to the fact it’d been two minutes of her being gone. Too long. I wished to have her back to irritate him some more. Preferably with her in my lap.

I stood abruptly, catching his attention. “I’m going after her. I intend to play, so if you want to join, haul your ass. Or would you prefer me to play with yours?”

Ideally, both hers and his. The rest from this table too. There could never be too many.

He rose, splaying his palms on the table and leaning toward me. “If you touch her?—”

“What? You’ll spank me?” I spread my arms wide as I walked backward toward the exit. “Nothing I haven’t experienced before.”

I was playing with fire, but who didn’t like to get burned? That was the best part.

Absentmindedly, I traced the raised scars through my shirt’s fabric on the inside of my left forearm. It was impossible to count the endless crisscrossing lines and swirls, but the number that had caused them was fixed: forty-two.

Not all fire brought pleasure.

“If you touch her without me nearby, your ass will carry the same scars,” he promised, slowly, deliberately so.

I wondered what it would be like to receive such treatment. But knowing how and why I’d received my scars, I had to be incredibly messed up to want his warning to come true.

“There is definitely something wrong with you two.” Jayla popped a grape into her mouth, chewing loudly as she inspected the cluster of them for overripe bits.

“It’s an old story, Jayla. And you’ve been in Zion’s bedroom, so you know how wrong certain parts of him are.” Laughing, Eli leaped out of his seat to avoid me rounding him and took a ready-to-grapple stance at Jayla’s side. “Come on, let’s play.”